Since we can query on the XML file from C# (.NET), why do we need an XSD file? I know it is metadata file of particular XML file. We can specify the relationships in XSD, but what is its functioning then?
XML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Root>
<Customers>
<Customer CustomerID="GREAL">
<CompanyName>Great Lakes Food Market</CompanyName>
<ContactName>Howard Snyder</ContactName>
<ContactTitle>Marketing Manager</ContactTitle>
<Phone>(503) 555-7555</Phone>
<FullAddress>
<Address>2732 Baker Blvd.</Address>
<City>Eugene</City>
<Region>OR</Region>
<PostalCode>97403</PostalCode>
<Country>USA</Country>
</FullAddress>
</Customer>
</Customers>
<Orders>
<Order>
<CustomerID>GREAL</CustomerID>
<EmployeeID>6</EmployeeID>
<OrderDate>1997-05-06T00:00:00</OrderDate>
<RequiredDate>1997-05-20T00:00:00</RequiredDate>
<ShipInfo ShippedDate="1997-05-09T00:00:00">
<ShipVia>2</ShipVia>
<Freight>3.35</Freight>
<ShipName>Great Lakes Food Market</ShipName>
<ShipAddress>2732 Baker Blvd.</ShipAddress>
<ShipCity>Eugene</ShipCity>
<ShipRegion>OR</ShipRegion>
<ShipPostalCode>97403</ShipPostalCode>
<ShipCountry>USA</ShipCountry>
</ShipInfo>
</Order>
<Order>
<CustomerID>GREAL</CustomerID>
<EmployeeID>8</EmployeeID>
<OrderDate>1997-07-04T00:00:00</OrderDate>
<RequiredDate>1997-08-01T00:00:00</RequiredDate>
<ShipInfo ShippedDate="1997-07-14T00:00:00">
<ShipVia>2</ShipVia>
<Freight>4.42</Freight>
<ShipName>Great Lakes Food Market</ShipName>
<ShipAddress>2732 Baker Blvd.</ShipAddress>
<ShipCity>Eugene</ShipCity>
<ShipRegion>OR</ShipRegion>
<ShipPostalCode>97403</ShipPostalCode>
<ShipCountry>USA</ShipCountry>
</ShipInfo>
</Order>
</Orders>
</Root>
I want to get data from the Order elements according to a provided CustomerID.
Also: What is the purpose of giving the relationships in XSD?
XSD files are used to validate that XML files conform to a certain format.
In that respect they are similar to DTDs that existed before them.
The main difference between XSD and DTD is that XSD is written in XML and is considered easier to read and understand.
Without XML Schema (XSD file) an XML file is a relatively free set of elements and attributes. The XSD file defines which elements and attributes are permitted and in which order.
In general XML is a metalanguage. XSD files define specific languages within that metalanguage. For example, if your XSD file contains the definition of XHTML 1.0, then your XML file is required to fit XHTML 1.0 rather than some other format.
You mention C# in your question so it may help to think of as XSD as serving a similar role to a C# interface.
It defines what the XML should 'look like' in a similar way that an interface defines what a class should implement.
XSDs constrain the vocabulary and structure of XML documents.
Without an XSD, an XML document need only follow the rules for being well-formed as given in the W3C XML Recommendation.
With an XSD, an XML document must adhere to additional constraints placed upon the names and values of its elements and attributes in order to be considered valid against the XSD per the W3C XML Schema Recommendation.
XML is all about agreement, and XSDs provide the means for structuring and communicating the agreement beyond the basic definition of XML itself.
Also questions is: What is the purpose
of giving the relationships in xsd.
Suppose you want to generate some XML for an external party's tool, or similar - how would you know what structure it is allowed to follow to be used correctly for their tool? you write to a schema. Likewise if you want other people to use your tool, you would write a schema for them to follow. It may also be useful for validating your own XML.
Before understanding the XSD(XML Schema Definition) let me explain;
What is schema?
for example; emailID: peter#gmail
You can identify the above emailID is not valid because there is no #, .com or .net or .org.
We know the email schema it looks like peter#gmail.com.
Conclusion: Schema does not validate the data, It does the validation of structure.
XSD is actually one of the implementation of XML Schema. others we have relaxng
We use XSD to validate XML data.
An XSD is a formal contract that specifies how an XML document can be formed. It is often used to validate an XML document, or to generate code from.
An XSD file is an XML Schema Definition and it is used to provide a standard method of checking that a given XML document conforms to what you expect.
An .xsd file is called an XML schema. Via an XML schema, we may require a certain structure in a given XML - which elements in which order, how many times, with which attributes, how they are nested, etc. If we have a schema for our XML input, we can verify that it contains the data we need it to contain, and nothing else, with a few lines invoking a schema validator.
The xsd file is the schema of the xml file - it defines which elements may occur and their restrictions (like amount, order, boundaries, relationships,...)
I have a set of schemas that I generate JAXB classes from and I would like JAXB to add a new property to one of the classes for an element that doesn't exist in the schema. How can I do this?
Is there any method in jaxb to read the xml tags dynamically.For example i have two xml files both have diffrent tagnames and attributes.I want to read these two xml files using a single method.I don want to use getelementByTagname and all.All i need to read the xml tags dynamically.Does JAXB support this or there is any other concepts which can do this.Thanks in advance
You can create a single JAXBContext that represents multiple models. As long as the root objects are annotated with #XmlRootElement (or #XmlElementDecl) then your JAXB (JSR-222) implementation will instantiate the correct objects based on the XML input.
http://blog.bdoughan.com/2010/08/using-xmlanyelement-to-build-generic.html
I have some quite big model, described in a number of xsd schemas. Schemas are referencing each other by includes. For example, A schema contains a 'someEnum' enumeration. B schema want to use that enum, so it include's the A schema. The problem is, when i import my XSD to eCore model's EMF are not only generates such an enum twice, but it aslo generates all the elements in B schema in model for A schema. I'm feeling that i'm doing something wrong, but can't figure out what exactly. Any help are very appreciated!
If you did select one xsd at a time in the EMF Project Wizard, then you should start with the xsd, that doesn't depend on anything. After the import of the first xsd finished, the EMF Project Explorer offers you to select referenced models during the import of the next xsd. Then you have to select the appropriate ones.
You are also able to import multiple xsds at once with the EMF Project Wizard. Then the references should be set correctly, if the namespaces of the xsds refer to each other.
My requirement is that I have a very big schema and it has many different tags with different namespaces. I want to generate classes from that schema into different packages and I want this thing to be bases on namespace i.e. I want classes corresponding to tags in one namespace to be in one package and classes corresponding to tags in other namespace to be present in different name space.
I want an ant task to perform the above functionality
Actually, this is normal JAXB behaviour: XJC derives packages from namespace URIs (http://www.acme.com/foo -> com.acme.foo).
Here's a sample Ant "Purchase Order" project:
http://confluence.highsource.org/display/J2B/Downloads